Vietnam sentences 4 to death, 4 to life in prison for trafficking heroin from Laos
By APSunday, January 31, 2010
Vietnam condemns 4 to death for trafficking heroin
HANOI, Vietnam — A court in northern Vietnam has sentenced four men to death for trafficking heroin.
Presiding Judge Luong Van Hien says four other defendants received life prison sentences Friday at the People’s Court of Thai Nguyen province.
The eight were part of a drug ring that trafficked more than 66 pounds (33 kilograms) of heroin between 1996 and 2007.
The defendants, from Thai Nguyen and the northern province of Dien Bien, smuggled the heroin from Laos.
Vietnam has some of the world’s harshest drug laws. Last month, six people were sentenced to death in the northern province of Lai Chau for trafficking heroin.
About 100 people are executed by firing squad each year in Vietnam, many for drug-related crimes.
